James m



(No Model.)

J.M.-KBEP. A BILL AND LETTER FILE.

Patented June 12 IJV VEA/TUR W l TJV ESSES4 UNITED STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE@ JAMES M. KEEP, or MoNToLAiE, NEw JEEsEY, AssicNoE `To Joanna N.y

Y KEEP, 0E sAME PLAGE.

BILL OR LETT-ER FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,170, dated June 12, 1883.

' Application filed September 9,1882. (No model.) A

To all whom t may concern: Kp

Be it known that l, J AMES M. KEEP, of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State oi' New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bill or Letter Files; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved transfer bill or letter file closed. Fig 2 is a side view of the same, showing it open; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the iile closed, the dotted lines showing the position of the movable wire and its actuating parts open for the removal of papers from the file, or for the ling of papers on the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate. corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation to socalled transfer7 bill files or invoice or letter files of that class in which the papers are iiled upon a pointed wire hook iixed at the lower end of a suitable plate, a movable wire socketed at its free end engaging or meeting the point of the fixed wire, so as to form, when the iile is closed, one continuous wire or wire bridge, on which the papers may be transferred from the ixed to the movable part, and any one paper readily be removed by opening` the joint between the fixed and the movable wire without disarranging the other papers on the file.

My improvement has for its object to so construct a le of that class that the movable wire, when the le is opened for the filing or removal of bills or other papers, will remain in its open position of itself until it is desired to again close the iile, in which the space which separates the free ends of the fixed and the movable wire when the iile is open shall be large or wide enough to admit of the convenient removal at one time of any desired number of papers, and in which provision is made against the free ends of the fixed and movable wires passing each other or failing to meet when the iile is closed. To these ends my improvenient consists in the construction and combination of parts of a le of that class, as

hereinafter more fully described and claimed.-

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A represents a plate, of any suitable shape and size, which has an aperture, a, at its upper end, by which it may be suspended upon a conveniently-located hook or nail; or the plate may be iixed in a horizontal or inclined position on a board or in a box, according to the purposes for which is to be used, as convenience and expediency may direct. At the lower end of plate A is fixed a slender-rod or wiie, B, the free end of which is pointed, as shown at b, and bent into an S shape, so as to cause the end of the wire to point outwardly, as shown at B.

Upon the top part of the plate are two projecting ears, C C, between which is placed a spring, D, the lower end of which rests in a recessed step or bearing, E, on the face of plate A, below its ears, the sides or shoulders e of said step or bearing preventing lateral displacement of the lower part of the spring, the middle part of which is conned between the ears C C.

F is a thumb-piece, which is in the nature of a short lever, in the lower part of which is xed the movable wire G, the free end of which is bored out or socketed, as shown at g, to fit upon the point b of the stationary wire B. rI he thumbpiece or lever F has a cam or projection, H, which is inserted between the ears G and C, so as to bear with its rounded back part against the bulging middle part, d, of spring D, and I is the fulcrum-pin, `by which lever F and its cam H are pivoted between the ears C and C. The lower socketed end of wire G is bent inwardly, as shown at G', so as to meet and engage with the outwardly-bent point b of the fixed wire B when the rile is closed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the manner of using my improved transfer bill or letter file will readily be understood without further explanation.

It will be seen that the movable wire G rotates around its own axis, (represented by the fulcrum-pin 1,) and that it is prevented from sidewise motion, so as to miss with its free end the point ofthe fixed wire B, by the ears C C, which guide cam H and lever F, which work between them.

It will also be observed that in opening the file by pressing upon the free end of the thumbpiece, spring D will be depressed against plate A and interlock with or bind against the upper curve of cam H, as represented by dotted lines in Fig. 3, so as to keep wire G in its open position, and thus keep the two wires separated and the iile open. In like manner the spring will operate to keep the file iirmly closed after the swell on cam H has been passed and the spring bears against the curve on the under side of the cam. seen that by this mode of pivoting the movable wire G, and by the peculiar curve of both wires, said wires will open, so as to form a space of considerable width between them, which permits of the easy removal from the file of a large batch of papers at one time.

I do not claim a bill-iile or transfer-nie in which the movable wire which operates in conjunction with the iixed hook is attached to the Furthermore, it will beY free end of a spring, the other end of which is fixed in the base-plate; but

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, 1s-

As an improved article of manufacture, the transfer bill or letter file herein shown and described, consisting of plate A, having ears C C, and fixed hook B, bent forward and upward at its free end, thumb-piece F, having cam or projection H, and wire G, bent back- ,J

ward and downward at its free end, and spring D, inserted between the ears of plate A, and adapted to bear against the swell of cam H, all constructed and combined to operate substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

` JAMES M. KEEP. XNfitnesses:

S. XV. DODGE, BENJ. T. RHoADs, Jr. 

